


Adam Rogers and the Godlings

by hotchoco195



Series: Miloverse [7]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Attempted Epic, Gen, Kid Fic, Magic, short and fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2014-06-13
Packaged: 2018-02-04 12:17:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1778833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotchoco195/pseuds/hotchoco195
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Come hear the saga of Adam Rogers, son of Steve, and his shield-companions as they conduct mighty pantry raids and tell tall tales.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adam Rogers and the Godlings

**Author's Note:**

> So...this is only short and cutesy because I thought 'hey, let's do a whole Poetic Edda style legend thing', and because this series is about to go in a VERY DIFFERENT DIRECTION. Like seriously. EXTREME 180. Enjoy the fluff while you can.

_Adam, son of Steven the American Warrior, in his eighth year was a boy of noble features and strong character. Possessed of his father’s golden locks and true heart, and his mother’s talents for cunning and scenting a lie, he kept all those around him in good cheer. In fact, his only weakness was a tendency to care too much, and to allow himself to be swayed by those he cared about._

_Thrúd Thoradöttir was a stout and sturdy six year old, with a mighty set of lungs that ensured her presence was foreseen everywhere she went. She was quick to jump in beside Adam, son of the Captain, when she thought there was evil being done or injustice served upon her mortal friends. She was not, to her mother’s despair, much for sitting still or being quiet, but she was incapable of saying a bad word about anyone or committing a single act out of malice, and so she was always easily forgiven when she accidentally broke Dr Foster’s equipment with her strength beyond that of a normal Midgardian child._

_Their companions (though being younger, were never allowed to be called that) were the twins Ingi and Laila. Son and daughter of the illustrious Hel Lokadöttir, Queen of Niflheim and the dishonoured dead, and Bruce of the house Banner, they were proclaimed at once by their uncle the Stormbringer as ‘future breakers of hearts’. Indeed, though they were only young (barely out of what Barton the Archer called ‘the Terrifying Threes’) they were the most beautiful creatures in all of Midgard. Their skin was pale, their hair like molten silver, and their eyes the palest jade green of pure crystal. Their features were fine enough to rival any of Alfheim; their voices like the brightest laughter._

_And yet these looks were not enough, for they already were masters of deception and trickery, born to a stealth inherited from those who walk the shadowy paths between realms, between life and death. They were fiercely intelligent and surrounded by great teachers and heroes eager to encourage that wisdom. It was inevitably they who concocted all schemes for fun and mischief in the Tower; it was inevitably they who batted their lashes and charmed the foursome out of trouble. It was inevitable Lady Natasha, the Dark Widow, who called bullshit and sent them to timeout._

*****

Adam was sitting in front of the enormous screen in Tony’s entertainment room when Laila edged her head around the door.

“Hey. I’m watchin’ Toy Story 3 if you wanna join.”

She walked over and stood beside him, tilting her head at the image on the wall. “I’ve seen it.”

“Yeah but it’s still good the second time.”

The Liesmith’s granddaughter glanced at him sidelong and twisted her toe against the carpet. “Addy?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re hungry.”

“We?” he looked up.

“Yeah, me and Ingi.”

“Where are the grown-ups?”

She shrugged.

“Well did you ask Jarvis?”

“He’s sleeping.”

Adam snorted. “Jarvis doesn’t sleep.”

“He is today.”

“Okaaaaay…here, let’s see if we can find something.”

He hopped off the couch and offered his hand. Laila jumped onto his back, the older boy laughing as he reluctantly helped her settle into a piggyback.

“Alright. Where’s Ingi?”

“At the table with Aunt Thrúd.”

He carried her into the next room to find the two bent over a colouring book, the toddler directing the princess to stay inside the lines.

“But I think it much better from the addition of a mighty helmet, Ingi.”

“Bugs Bunny doesn’t have a helmet. He’s a rabbit.”

“Perhaps he should. That hunter is always trying to catch him.”

“Hey, have you seen the grown-ups?” Adam frowned as he set Laila down by the table. She immediately climbed onto the chair on Thrúd’s other side and started pointing out which colours to use next.

Thrúd pouted thoughtfully. “Not since Mum brought me upstairs this morning. You?”

“Same. Dad set me up with the movie and said they had important team business to discuss.”

“What of your parents?” Thrúd nudged Ingi, “Where are Hel and Uncle Bruce?”

Laila shrugged. “I know not.”

Adam raised a brow at Ingi and he gave an identical expression. “They were getting ready for the meeting so we came up here and found Aunt Thrúd.”

“Well,” Adam checked the bright red and gold Iron Man watch on his thin wrist, “Dad left for the briefing room…half an hour ago. That’s not very long. They’re probably not finished yet.”

“But we’re hungry noooow.” Ingi pouted.

“Jarvis?” Adam tried.

There was silence and he frowned at Thrúd.

“Jarvis always answers.”

“Not always. Sometimes Uncle Tony shuts him down for repairs or updates.”

“Okay. I guess we’ll feed ourselves then.”

 

He went into the kitchen and opened the pantry, scanning the shelves for something easy and four-year-old-friendly as the others trooped in behind him curiously. There were lots of fancy bottles and jars and packages, but nothing he could make without the oven or the stove.

“Sorry guys, looks like we’re out of luck.”

“What about my apartment? Father always has a huge stack of Poptarts in the cupboard. Using the toaster’s quick enough.” Thrúd beamed.

“We shouldn’t really go anywhere. What if the adults come back and we’re not here?”

“Leave a note.” Ingi wrinkled his nose.

“Yes. It’s not as if we’re leaving the Tower, Addy. We’re not even going into the dangerous bits, just Great-uncle Thor’s apartment.” Laila gave him an innocent smile.

“You’re right. Okay, I’ll leave a note.”

He grabbed the colouring book and a marker and flicked to the blank inside cover, quickly jotting the message down. Adam clicked the cap back on with a satisfied grin and held out a hand.

“Who’s ready to go on a Poptart adventure?”

Ingi and Laila squealed and took off towards the stairs, Thrúd chasing after them with a giggle.

“Come along, Adam! We can’t let the babies beat us!”

He laughed and hurried to catch up, even though he knew it was hopeless trying to outrun the demi-gods. But they were foiled when they reached the stair door and couldn’t turn the handle, having to stop to let Thrúd do it.

“Hold hands, please. If you trip and fall, Uncle Bruce is gonna kill me.”

“It’s not him you have to worry about.” Laila chuckled.

“Yes, Mother’s temper is much worse.” Ingi shuddered.

But they both let one of the older kids take their hand without complaint, starting down the bare concrete steps. They’d made it two floors down when the stairwell lights flickered and went out.

“That was weird.” Thrúd stopped on the landing.

“Yeah. Think there’s a problem with the Tower’s reactor?” Adam looked up.

“Perhaps that is why Jarvis will not answer.” Ingi stuck his head through the balustrade, looking down at the dark stairs below.

“Maybe. Look, we’re not far from your parents’ place. We can find our way there; we just have to be super careful.”

Adam clung tighter to Ingi’s hand and the railing, feeling out each step before he took it. He could hear Thrúd and Laila behind them, the older girl muttering as she stubbed her toe. They took one step at a time, the blackness complete except for one lonely emergency exit sign over the door at the bottom.

“Is this the right floor?”

“I dunno, should be.”

“Okay. I’ll get the door. Stay close.”

Adam shouldered it open as he turned the handle, peering into the gloom.

“Looks like the whole Tower’s blacked out.”

“What about our Poptarts?” Ingi whined.

Laila scoffed. “We don’t need electricity for Poptarts.”

She snapped her fingers and a glowing ball of ghostly white fire appeared in her palm, lighting the space around them so brightly Adam couldn’t stop blinking. Ingi laughed gleefully and snapped, producing an identical flame.

“Oh thanks, guys. You couldn’t have done that thirty seconds ago?”

She peered up at him blankly. “You told us to hold hands.”

 

With the twins’ spell they quickly found their way to the kitchen without knocking into anything. Thrúd went straight to the cupboard and started pulling out boxes, throwing them down to Adam. Ingi looked through the pots and pans until he found a big iron wok, chortling to himself as he set it in the middle of the kitchen floor.

“Not here,” Laila clucked her tongue, “In the other room. We can wrap ourselves in blankets and pretend we’re camping.”

“We don’t have marshmallows.”

“We don’t need them.”

“We do if we want to make Poptart s’mores.” He said as if she was an idiot.

Laila’s eyes slit up. “Ooohh. Aunt, do you have any marshmallows?”

Thrúd hummed and dug around at the back of the pantry, shaking her head. “No, sorry.”

“It’s okay. Dad hides some with his special teas. Our floor’s the next one down, it’ll take two seconds to get there.”

“We’ll need a bag for all these.” Adam hefted his armful of boxes.

“Give me a second.” Thrúd rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a canvas bag. Adam threw the whole lot in and drew the neck tight, swinging it over his shoulder. The princess took the wok from Ingi and the quartet headed back to the stairs.

“It’s weird Uncle Tony hasn’t got the lights back on yet.”

“Maybe the problem’s tricky.” Ingi skipped along.

“Maybe their meeting’s all boring and he can’t get away to fix it yet.” Laila added.

“I do not mind the dark, especially with my little kinsfolk to light our way. It’s like a bear hunt.”

“Or like we’re exploring old ruins.” Adam grinned.

“Like it’s Ragnarok and we are survivors, scrounging what we can from the land!” Ingi jumped with excitement.

“Ingi! Don’t joke about that.” Thrúd scowled.

“Why not? Come Ragnarok, as descendants of Loki and Odin we’ll all probably die anyway. We don’t have to worry about scraping by.” Laila beamed, hurrying ahead.

“You’re really unsettling sometimes!” Adam called after her.

“It’s my job!”

He rolled his eyes and caught up, opening the door. There was a heavy thump and he paused. “Hello?”

Ingi looked past Adam’s shoulder, holding up his hand so the light was better. He snorted. “It was just the door, Addy.”

“Yeah, I guess. Just thought for a second there was someone there. Okay, let’s go.”

They headed down the next flight, the door slamming shut behind them too loudly in the silence of the stairwell. They rounded the turn and jumped down the next few steps, Adam opening the door and waving them through.

“Okay, Ingi and Thrúd are on campfire duty, Laila you show me where these marshmallows are at.”

 

They split up, the young god clearing a space on the living room floor for the wok. Thrúd knelt nearby and watched curiously as he took a clear stone from a heap on one of the bookcases and cupped it in both hands.

“What are you doing?”

“Putting the fire’s roots in this instead of me. Doesn’t your dad ever teach you anything magical?”

She shook her head. “No, Uncle Loki tries sometimes but I’m not very good. I don’t like all the sitting still and concentrating.”

“Huh. Well I don’t want to hold it all the time, so…” he opened his fingers and showed her the stone, now definitely on fire.

He set it in the base of the wok and grabbed blankets off the couch, sitting with his legs crossed. Thrúd looked at the ceiling and smiled.

“You know what would make this really like a bear hunt? Stars.”

“There are stars outside.”

“It’s not the same.”

Ingi pursed his lips. “I’ll see what I can do.”

He closed his eyes and flung his hands up. A few pinpricks of light appeared above them, not more than eight or nine and none of them very bright, but Thrúd clapped her hands.

“Much better.”

Adam and Laila came in with the Poptarts and marshmallows, as well as plates and cutlery. The girl was dragging a big bottle of milk behind her, setting it down as she plonked on the carpet in a puff of skirts.

“Poptarts!” she waved at Adam impatiently.

He opened a box of chocolate and handed a couple to her. The little goddess ripped the packaging off quickly and dug into the bag of marshmallows, squishing a couple between the two pastries. She clamped the whole thing in a pair of tongs and held it over the fire. Ingi quickly copied, holding his wedged between a set of metal salad forks.

“Here you go, Addy.” Thrúd passed him a handful of marshmallows.

“Thanks. So who’s gonna tell the ghost story?”

“Ghost story?” Ingi twitched his nose.

“Yeah. Since we’re here making s’mores around our campfire. We should have a story.”

Laila’s face brightened. “I know a great tale about Ragna-”

“No!” Thrúd cut her off, “I shall tell one.”

“Oh yes, let Aunt Thrúd tell one! She knows all the best stories.” Ingi bounced on the spot, nearly dropping his s’more.

“Fine.” Laila rolled her eyes with a sigh.

They crowded in closer, watching the princess quietly. She drew herself up, hands on her knees.

“This is the story of Uncle Loki and Lady Sif’s hair.”

 

By the time they’d finished the story of the stolen hair, the one about Idunn’s apples and the one about Captain America and the Howling Commandos, the children were out of marshmallows and the lights still weren’t on. Thrúd started fidgeting, pushing herself away from the fire.

“I’m boooored. We’ve been sitting here for so long.”

“What do you wanna do? There’s no lights, no power.” Adam shrugged.

“How about a game?” Ingi cupped his swollen stomach in both hands.

“What kind of game?”

“A word game.” Laila suggested.

There was a loud bang below them and the foursome looked at each other.

“What was that?” Ingi whispered.

“I dunno. Maybe Uncle Tony’s fixing Jarvis?” Adam listened carefully.

They waited but there was nothing else.

“Try calling him.” Thrúd nudged the older boy.

“Um, okay. Jarvis?”

There was a whine and some beeps, and then the AI spoke – though his words seemed strangely slurred, running together. “Yes, Master Rogers?”

“Cool! Where have you been?”

“My circuits were disabled, sir.”

“But you’re better now?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Then we can get back to the game.” Laila cut in.

“I do not like your rhyming games. You two always win.” Thrúd pouted.

“We can split up, two teams of two. That’s fair.” Adam said.

“Okay. Boys vs girls.” Ingi grinned, tickling his sister until she grunted in annoyance and pushed him, the boy falling sideways.

“Hey!”

“What, doofus?”

“Mother said you’re not allowed to call me that!”

“Well don’t be one.”

The stairwell door slammed open and Laila squeaked, clutching at her brother. Steve stood in the entrance, leaning heavily on the frame, a torch in one hand.

“Kids?”

“Dad!” Adam jumped up, “Your meeting took forever.”

“Are you guys okay?” the captain hurried in, setting his light on a side table to grab Adam by the shoulders and look him over.

“Of course. The lights went out but Ingi and Laila took care of it.” He weaved at the fire.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to work those kinds of spells unsupervised.” He arched a brow.

The twins both shrugged. “Flames are easy. Mother taught us those long ago.”

“Hmm, well I don’t think anyone’s gonna complain today.”

 

Adam caught his chin, turning it so the light glanced across a deep cut on Steve’s cheek. “Dad, what’s going on?”

Thor bounded in through the doorway. “You found them?”

“Yeah, they’re all here.”

“Hello Father.” Thrúd smiled.

The god dropped his hammer so hard it dented the floor and swept her up in his arms, ignoring her cries of protest.

“Father!”

“Oh, I was so worried about you, my princess! And you, little kinsmen.” He reached down and ruffled the twin’s hair.

“Great-uncle Thor!” Ingi whined, squirming away.

“What happened? Why are the lights off? What was wrong with Jarvis?” Adam pushed.

Steve took a deep breath. “Our meeting was a set-up. Someone tried to turn the Tower into a big trap. They cut off Jarvis and the power. We had to fight our way out.”

“We were so worried about you.” Thor added, clutching Thrúd tighter.

“But you won?” she forced out around his constricting embrace.

“Of course, my darling! None can hold the mighty Avengers back long.”

“Uncle Tony’s getting the lights back on and the others are helping get the bad guys carted off to jail where they belong.” Steve nodded.

“And your mother and Aunt Darcy are on their way back from work.” Thor poked Thrúd’s nose affectionately.

Laila stood, tugging at his cape until he looked down.

“Yes, little one?”

“Does that mean Daddy’s all big?”

“Unfortunately, or he would have come with us to find you.”

“Can we see him?”

Steve and Thor exchanged a glance. “Might help him calm down, actually.”

“Very well. We shall take you to him.”

 

Thor glanced down at the twins, pausing with his hand on the keypad. “You must stay close to me.”

“We know.” Ingi rolled his eyes.

“He forgets himself sometimes.”

“We’re used to Daddy. Open the door, Great-uncle Thor.”

“Alright.”

He punched in the code and the thick steel door slid back. Hulk sat in the middle of his ‘calm down’ room, pounding at the special flooring with both fist like a great ape.

“Friend Hulk?” Thor said carefully.

“WHERE TWINS? HULK WANT TWINS!” he roared.

“Hi Daddy!” Ingi took a few steps in, straying out of Thor’s reach despite the warning.

“Boy twin?” Hulk stopped suddenly, shoulders still hunched in preparation for another swing.

“Hi Daddy.” Laila skipped forward.

“Twins!”

They both giggled and ran across the room, ignoring Thor’s scolding behind them. The children threw themselves at Hulk, hugging as much of him as they could manage (which wasn’t very much). The big green beast chuckled and picked them up, one in each palm.

“Twins safe?”

“Yes Daddy.”

“Twins scared?”

“No, we had a campfire and made s’mores and Aunt Thrúd told stories.”

“Did you smash the villains, Daddy?”

Hulk nodded. “Hulk smash!”

“You’re the fiercest warrior in all the land.” Laila leaned in and kissed his cheek.

Hulk blushed, turning his head slightly, and Thor snickered. The giant bared his teeth and growled at the god, the blond quickly holding his hands up.

“I meant no offence, friend Hulk. Perhaps you could return Banner to us so he may take the children home? I am sure they are tired after this excitement.”

“No. No Banner. Wait for Hel.”

He frowned. “Hel?”

“Hel keep twins safe. Hulk too big, Banner too little.”

“I assure you, they are safe now, shield-brother. The Tower has been purged of our enemy.”

“Wait for Hel!”

He shrugged. “As you please. Do you require anything?”

“Snacks!” Ingi beamed.

“And Toy Story 3.” Laila nodded gravely.

“Snacks, movie!” Hulk echoed.

“I shall see what I can arrange.”

He left, the door sliding shut behind him, and the twins climbed down to start dragging the various cushions and blankets Hulk had strewn across the room into one central nest. Ingi pushed several big pillows together and flopped onto his back.

“Hey Daddy, you wanna see something?”

Hulk nodded and he spread his fingers, casting the star spell he’d used earlier. The lights were brighter this time but smaller, spread over more of the ceiling and hovering around Hulk’s head. He reached out gently and poked a glowing spot, smiling.

“Twins clever.”

Laila placed her tiny palm against his huge one. “Daddy’s clever too.”

“And Hulk!” Ingi cried.

“Yep. Hulk too.”

*****

_When Hel Lokadöttir, the dread queen, came upon them later it was to find Bruce of the house Banner fast asleep under a thick cover of linens, Ingi and Laila the Fair on either side eating and watching the Third Story of Toys._

_“What happened to Daddy?” she asked._

_“He was tired. It’s okay though, he needed the rest.”_

_“Let us finish this upstairs then, where he may slumber in our chambers.”_

_And after they were resettled, she did chastise Thor the Thunder Lord for giving them quite so much sugar, but she was not truly mad - for at least they were safe._


End file.
